Glasgow Appoints New Service Director For Social Work

Glasgow City Council has appointed David Crawford as the new Service Director for Social Work. Currently the Director of Social Work at Renfrewshire Council, Mr Crawford will take on his role in August as part of Glasgow City Council’s new Education and Social Work Department.

A former president of the Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW), Mr Crawford has taken on numerous influential positions in the past, including the chair of the Care in Scotland group that brings together the ADSW, the British Association of Social Work, the Social Care Association and community care providers.

His career as a social worker began in 1979 as a trainee with Bedfordshire Probation Service, but he soon moved to a position within Strathclyde Regional Council, where he gained his social work qualifications before developing rapidly. He already has direct, previous experiencing of social work in Glasgow, working as Social Work Unit Manager at Barlinnie Prison and Area Manager for Drumchapel.

Upon local government reorganisation in 1996, he moved from Strathclyde Regional Council to Renfrewshire Council to become Head of Operations. From there he rose to his current position of Director of Social Work.

Councillor Elaine McDougall, Glasgow City Council’s Executive Member for Social Work, has been delighted by the appointment of David Crawford. She said: “We were deeply impressed by the quality of applicants attracted to this post, but David was easily the outstanding candidate. He has an unrivalled breadth of experience from working as a hands-on social worker right through to his current involvement in driving the social work agenda at national level.

“David comes to the city when a recent fundamental re-organisation of social and health care services is beginning to take effect. But by bringing together education and social work under one umbrella we are pushing further for lasting change for the city’s most vulnerable people. There is no question David has a big challenge on his hands, but we have no doubt that he is the man for the job.”

Mr Crawford (49), who originally hails from Paisley, is relishing the opportunity to resume his work in Glasgow. He said: “I previously worked in Glasgow for nearly ten years and I am delighted to be returning. Glasgow has many highly committed staff providing good services in demanding circumstances. I am looking forward to working with them to develop consistently excellent social work services across the whole city.”